


trickster in a mortal world

by aquorntree



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Loki & Tony Stark Friendship, Loki (Marvel) Has Issues, Loki is a genius, M/M, Post-Thor (2011), Tony Stark Has A Heart, loki didn’t fall off the bifrost, loki living in stark tower
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-10-08 21:12:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17393807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aquorntree/pseuds/aquorntree
Summary: Thor saved Loki from falling off the Bifrost, but still wanted Loki to be helped. Odin thinks of Loki’s punishment while Thor is on Midgard, being introduced to a superhero group called the Avengers, Loki in the dungeons. When Thor comes back and the punishment is told to Thor, Thor rebels, taking his brother’s issues seriously. Thor takes his brother to Midgard, or more specifically the Avengers.Or…Loki’s staying in Midgard after his failed suicide attempt and has to live with a band of superhero mortals.[This is being rewritten :)]





	trickster in a mortal world

“What do you mean, Thor, he’s staying here?”

“I was _hoping_ so, friend Steve, my brother cannot stay in Asgard.”

“Why not? No, no, no, wait, why _here?_ In my tower? This is for the Avengers and Stark Industries. We’re not taking in strays, Point Break.”

Tony looked over at his teammates, most of them staying quiet and observing the situation, and stared back at Thor’s brother, who was leaning hunched on the wall of the Penthouse suite. Behind Thor. The prince was looking at the floor, his face shadowed, but from the visible features, his eyes were narrowed in annoyance.

“Come on, Stark. What bad could come out of just helping him?” Steve turned to Tony, eyebrows tilted in the famous worried/disappointed look.

“Why can’t he go back to Asgard?” Natasha finally spoke up, her arms crossed over her chest. What did he do to be stuck on this planet? It was obviously bad, everyone in the room knew this.

“The Allfather refuses to help Loki. He only wants to throw him in prison for the rest of his life. And that’s a long time for him, given how long we live. I refuse to go along with his orders. He may be father, but Loki is also my brother,” Thor explained, his big blue eyes widening in plea and some other inexplainable emotion. He wasn’t exactly telling the truth to his newfound friends.

“Yeah. But what did he _do?_ ” Tony blinked, his face hardening, “You’re not giving us any details buddy. He could be a mass murderer for all we know.” A small scoff, that was only just heard, could he heard from Loki’s direction and it made Natasha and Clint keep their eyes on the man.

Thor narrowed his eyes, angered that his friend was talking down his brother. It reminded him of Asgard during their childhood; Thor would always defend him because he knew Loki wasn’t as strong as the warriors. He soon sighed and relaxed, “I’ll tell you all the details later in life, if you accept. If you don’t, I will find another place to stay with Loki, but I won’t be able to join you in case an attack happens.”

The Avengers, minus Thor (who kept his steely gaze on Tony), all looked at each other, raised eyebrows. It was silent for a while, everyone in the room not knowing what to say. Surprisingly it was Loki himself that broke it.

“I tried to destroy a planet.”

Everyone looked over to the figure, who was now standing straight and staring at them all. Something in him made him look like a child, though, with red-rimmed eyes. He certainly hadn’t been crying while he’d been here, so it was blatantly obvious he’d been crying back in Asgard. It made him look younger than he already looked, but many people had to double check their ages for this prince.

Everyone was silent, their voices stolen from them. How could this small kid try to destroy a whole planet? Loki carried on, “Bad, wasn’t it?” a hint of a smile could be seen, but it wasn’t a happy one, “I have lived for a thousand years, in the belief that I was a prince of Asgard. I found out that that was not the case a week ago. I’m the monster that parents tell their children about to make them obedient.” At first glance, he’d seen carefree, but Natasha and Clint were trained in the smallest movements, and could tell he was uncomfortable.

Tony stared at the prince in front of him, his eyes narrowed a slightest bit. Something about Loki made his motherly instincts come out to play, which he hadn’t even known existed before now. Looking at the kid hunched over himself like he was afraid of being hit or beaten sparked something in Tony. A need to wrap him up in blankets. _No._ No, bad idea, Tony! Tony managed to squash down that thought and instead chose to act.

“Uh, Steve, can you just take Loki into the kitchen, maybe make him breakfast or something? He looks like a starving child, honestly what were they feeding him up in Asgard?,” He rambled on, now only recognising the small, almost frail, middle of the prince.

“Tony, are you sure that’s a good idea?” Steve questioned, arching a blonde brow. Of course, he wanted to be apart of this debate. The Avengers has a choice to room a potentially dangerous (and unstable) mass murderer. 

Bruce cut in before Tony could say anything, earning himself a look from the man himself, “It would be a good idea, Steve. He looks like he’s about to pass out.” He gave a small smile at Loki, which only resulted in the kid’s face darkening. 

Loki tried to keep his expression as blank as possible, as he’s always learned to do in Asgard, but he was so tired and he wanted to go to sleep, although he’d ignore his own desires until he knew he was completely safe. These people, who he found out to be Thor’s mortal friends, were talking about him as though he wasn’t even in the room. He wanted to scream and yell that he wasn’t weak, but he _also_ learned not to do that in Asgard. 

He wasn’t weak. He’d spend hours up and alert if needs be.

Thor grimaced, “Yes, I believe Loki would be hungry, I don’t know how much they fed him in the prisons,” He turned to Loki and held him firmly at his shoulders, “Brother,” Loki scowled, “Please go eat something. I will fight for your stay here. Don’t do anything stupid.”

Loki stared in Thor’s annoyingly sea blue eyes, unblinking, before sighing, “Sure, after all, I would not want to go back to my _punishment_ ,” He shrugged before walking over to Steve, both walking out of the main penthouse and into the kitchen. Natasha narrowed her eyes a little before turning heel and joining them. 

As soon as the three entered the kitchen, Loki slowed down to observe his surroundings, seeing no dangerous items and instead taking his time to admire the designs. The kitchen, which looked a lot different to Asgard’s kitchens, had a nice dark tone to it, the counter tops marble and a nice dark wood. It was nice, for Midgard.

When you’ve lived in the Realm Eternal for a thousand years, anyone could get bored and slightly nauseous when you look around and constantly see golden _everything_ wherever you go. Well, anyone only really meant Loki. It made sense that he wasn’t really part of Asgard.

Steve pointed at a stool-like-chair at a counter, “Sit there, I’ll make you some omelettes.”, and Loki did so, more because of his legs shaking in exhaustion than obedience. Natasha followed the Captain America, but still keeping a close eye on the Asgardian, who now started drumming his fingers on the surface.

“You think this is a good idea?” She murmured to Steve, standing next to him, quiet enough that Loki couldn’t hear her. In her opinion, the assassin didn’t believe that this was a good idea. The Avengers had better things to do than looking after stray murderers, whatever the reason was behind it.

“Maybe? I don’t honestly know, Miss Romanov. I can’t get a proper read on him.” 

Which was true in a sense. Loki had tried his absolute hardest to keep his face blank, giving them no advantages over him. If they could tell he was tired, they would know that if something attacked, he’d be weak. It was something that was natural to him now, like breathing.

“Yeah, hopefully Tony doesn’t make an impulsive decision with Thor. I don’t want him to have too much freedom in the tower.”

“How do you know Tony’ll accept? He could refuse to keep Loki here,” Steve argued, still standing facing the hob, the pan of nearly-ready omelettes sizzling.

Leaning against the counter next to the hob, Natasha stared at her nails, still keeping Loki in her corner of eye. Just in case; she really didn’t like this situation, “I could tell. Stark was just about ready to hide him from anything. You know he’s always had a soft spot for kids,” She told him.

Steve murmured in neutral agreement, not saying anything. Whenever they’d get swarmed with crowds, Steve had seen a pattern regarding Tony. The billionaire would _always_ approach the kids first, sometimes squatting to be face-level with them, and show them some of his tech, holograms of unicorns or things that kids liked. 

Noticing that the omelettes were ready, he scooped them up and dropped them on a nearby plate Natasha had already gone and gotten at some point while he was thinking. He then turned round and placed the ceramic in front of the god, making him look up with wide green eyes. 

Loki was somehow surprised. The other mortals in this building were probably having a talk about when and where Loki was getting locked up in chains and the man in front of him was being polite, if not friendly. It confused him to no end, but he schooled his expression as quick as he could and took a hesitant bite out of the omelette with the given utensils.

Natasha obviously saw the slip in the kid’s mask. He looked surprised, but in a good way, that he was given food. It was such a simple gesture that everyone got treated to by Steve in the mornings. Just by that expression, Loki reminded her of her own past, being raised to be cold and impassable and soon finding herself in a bad position. Clint helped her out and let her make up for the mistakes. Maybe all Loki needed was a friend who showed him kindness?

A few ten minutes later of Loki eating his breakfast in small bites and Steve and Natasha idly having a conversation standing beside the dishwasher, when JARVIS spoke up.

“Miss Romanov, Captain Rogers, Mr.Odinson, Sir requires your attendance in the penthouse living room.”

Loki startled from his stool, jolting up to his feet, “Who was that?” His tone was suspicious, although Natasha could hear a sense of curiosity in there too. Loki snapped his gaze back to the two Avengers, “Who was that?” He asked again.

“Uh, this is JARVIS. He’s an artificial intelligence, from what Tony tells me? Like, a computer?” Steve grimaced at his awful explaining – he really didn’t know about it himself. He could hardly control a phone, let alone artificial intelligence. 

“A computer?”

“Yes, Mr.Odinson, to put it lightly, I am a computer that was coded by Mr.Stark to serve him and his guests,” JARVIS responded, earning a grimace from Loki. The god wouldn’t lie, Midgard’s technology was very interesting – he’d never seen this before, not even in other realms. Realms like Alfheim and Nidavellir has spirits that were bounded to a shelter and their purpose were to serve, but this was different. 

“Why do you call me that Jarvis?” Loki had a look of disgust on his face that Steve was confused about. He guessed that the prince had issues, but his last name was so bad he didn’t even want to be called it?

“I guessed that Thor Odinson and you would have the same last names, sir.”

The trickster blinked, “Well, I’d rather not be called that. Odin isn’t my father.”

“What would you rather be called as then, sir?”

Here Loki stopped for a second, hesitating. He didn’t want to he known as an Odinson, but neither as a frost giant, Laufey’s son. Thor would definitely disapprove if he found out, knowing that he brought Loki here to ‘help’ him. Well, that really settles it then, doesn’t it?

“Laufeyson. Loki Laufeyson. Sound pretty good, I think.” Loki had a smile on his face, but it wasn’t happy in the slightest, Steve noticed. It was a bit unsettling if he was being honest.

 

-0-0-0-

 

Tony and Thor were still standing in the same places as they were when the trio left to go to the kitchen. Same with Bruce and Clint, who were kind of looking a little disgusted with what Thor told them. Tony Stark’s expression was carefully blank, not wanting to let the others know how much of that affected him. 

When Loki, Steve and Natasha left, Thor had told them of the events from his interrupted coronation to the Allfather’s chosen punishment for his younger brother, pushing down the urge to push past them and find Loki. He’d always felt this protective urge with Loki. But now that he was obviously unstable? 

Loki must be feeling overwhelmed in this situation. 

A few moments passed as Thor finished his tale with his reasons on why he’d protect his brother even if it costed him his life – it had always been like that. Loki would call it sentimental, but it was true nonetheless. The penthouse in Stark Tower was now bathed in a golden light, the minutes that he was talking the sun lowered itself into the sky. It gave a nice, calm undertone to the scene.

That was when Steve entered the penthouse again, Loki trailing behind him with still eyes. Natasha was behind the two of them, using her instincts she’d had for whole life and make sure the prince didn’t act and do something stupid.

Thor beamed, raising his arm and wiping his slightly sparkly eyes with a beefy arm, unconsciously, “Brother, have you eaten now?” Loki nodded, strolling over and stopping beside the older prince, but far enough for it not be awkward.

“Ah. Yes. I have.” Loki’s tone could probably be seen as casual, but if anyone looked deeper into his bright green eyes, they’d see that those irises held so much emotion. Anger, intimidation, appreciation for Thor’s sudden change of heart. It differed so much compared to the centuries before.

Tony clapped his hands, affectively drawing everyone’s attention to him, and gave only a slight hesitant smile at the two brothers, “Alright! We’ve talked out the decision, and don’t worry Captain Spangles, we made sure to include your argument, and I’ve decided that Lokes can stay here after all. It’s my tower and I don’t see any negative point to us housing you here, due to what Thor told me.” 

Loki raised his eyebrows, carefully making sure nothing was shown on his face, but he was _very_ excited to proving these mortals wrong.


End file.
